Julia Church’s entrepreneurial idea dawned on her when she designed a swimsuit for herself. When her roommate tried her design and loved it, Church started exploring the idea of launching a swimwear business . She launched Nettle’s Tale Swimwear with a crowd funding campaign in spring of 2014.Her original goal of $10,000 was surpassed seven-fold and this helped Church to confirm that others were behind her business idea.

Nettle’s Tale Swimwear is an online swimwear company. All the clothes are designed and manufactured locally in Vancouver. Each swimsuit is modeled by and named after the woman who inspired its design. 10% of net profits from each design are forwarded to the corresponding model’s favourite charity.

Q. What services has Women’s Enterprise Centre provided to you and how have these services helped you?
A. Women’s Enterprise Centre provided me a loan which helped increase my production volume and to keep up with demand. The much needed funds also helped my marketing campaigns opening new sales opportunities.

Q. What inspired you to take the leap and start your own business?
A. I learned the ropes of business while working for some start up brands. I loved my challenging roles. The steep learning curve and my unending enthusiasm to learn new skills motivated me to launch my own business.

Q. What’s the biggest lesson you learned when starting your business?
A. There are no overnight successes. You can accomplish great things only if you work hard and stay the course.

Q. What are your goals for the business?
A. I want to provide more custom made services so that my clients feel good in what they wear. My goal is to create a system where women can select a style of their choice, enter their measurements, select color swatches and then the suit is customized as per their specifications. I also want to have a retail location so that my clients can walk in for their purchases.

Q. What is your greatest strength as an entrepreneur?
A. My ability to create a vision and then get others to rally behind it! I am also very particular about authenticity and transparency in my business.

Q. What personal lessons have you learned as an entrepreneur?
A. I’ve become more peaceful and less dramatic with the ups and downs of the business. It has helped me manage stress that comes with any start up business.
Every time I overcome a challenge, it reminds me that business success is all about having fun while solving problems and celebrating my achievements-how big or small they may be. It all works out in the end.